Embodiments of the inventive concept described herein relate to an apparatus for processing a substrate, and more particularly, relate to an apparatus for cleaning a substrate.
In a general process for manufacturing a substrate, the unit processing steps of depositing, etching, photoresist-coating, developing, and asher-removing are repeated in many times to form arrangements of microscopic patterns. After the process, remnants incompletely removed by an etching or asher-removing step may be existed in substrates. A process for removing such remnants is a wet cleaning process using deionized water or chemicals.
In a substrate cleaning apparatus, chemicals or deionized water are supplied to a substrate, which is being rotated by a motor after fixed to a chuck in a small chamber which is capable of processing a sheet of substrate, through nozzles placed over the substrate. Then chemicals or deionized water spread out on a substrate by rotation of the substrate and thereby remnants attached to the substrate are removed therefrom.
FIG. 1 illustrates an arrangement structure of a general substrate cleaning apparatus 1000, including a loading/unloading part 1100, an indexing robot 1200, a buffer part 1300, a processing chamber 1400, and a main transfer robot 1500 from one side therein. The index robot 1200 transfers a substrate between the buffer part 1300 and the loading/unloading part 1100, and the main transfer robot 1500 transfers a substrate between the buffer part 1300 and the processing chamber 1400.
In the substrate cleaning apparatus 1000, as one member of the main transfer robot 1500 is used to carry a substrate in and out of a multiplicity of processing chambers 1400, a tact time for transferring the substrate increases as a moving distance of the main transfer robot 1500 becomes longer.
To increase an amount of products from the substrate cleaning apparatus 1000, there has been proposed a method of increasing the number of hands and buffer slots of the index robot 1200 and the main transfer robot 1500. However, even the proposed method has still a limit in the case that there is a need of product amount equal to or larger than 500 sheets.
In the meantime, as shown in FIG. 2, in the case of disposing the main transfer robot 1500 in two members for increasing a product amount, there is a problem of enlarging a width (L) of the apparatus from 2230 to 2800 mm.